Jahvid Best back at Cal as student, football assistant

Updated 5:43 am, Friday, February 21, 2014

Now that he is back at the place that marked the beginning of the end of his football career, Jahvid Best insists he is not haunted by the traumatic events of Nov. 7, 2009.

That was when the Bears' running back vaulted into the end zone at Memorial Stadium and was vaulted even higher into the air by a hit from an Oregon State defender. Best landed scary-hard on his back, resulting in a severe concussion that ended his college career.

On Thursday, Cal announced Best as a student assistant coach for the 2014 season. He's back in school working toward his undergraduate degree in African American studies after leaving Berkeley for the NFL following his junior year in 2009, and he'll be on the Memorial Stadium field regularly once Cal begins spring practice March 31.

"Not necessarily mixed emotions," Best said. "When I do go down there I'd get flashbacks of all the good times that happened there."

There were indeed good times for Best playing on Cal teams that went 24-15 during his three years in Berkeley. However, the lasting image of Best is a chilling one of him being taken from the field by ambulance during that Oregon State game.

Photo: Paul Sancya, Associated Press

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Jahvid Best is again a Cal student, pursuing a degree in African American studies.

Jahvid Best is again a Cal student, pursuing a degree in African American studies.

Photo: Paul Sancya, Associated Press

Jahvid Best back at Cal as student, football assistant

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Two subsequent concussions put a premature end to his NFL career with the Detroit Lions after 22 games and 945 rushing yards over the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Now 25 and living in the Richmond area near his parents, Best said, "My health is fine. No issues that are dragging on. It's good that I left the game healthy. That's very important to me."

However, it was a concussion sustained against the 49ers on Oct. 16, 2011 - the famous "Handshake Game" encounter between Jim Harbaugh and Lions coach Jim Schwartz - that ended Best's playing career. He was on injured reserve all of 2012 before being released in 2013.

Best has pending lawsuits against the NFL and helmet-manufacturer Riddell as well as a workers' compensation claim against the Lions - topics he declined to discuss Thursday.

"I'm not going to dive back in on that," he said. "I'm fine now. Let me focus on what I'm doing now."

While working toward his Cal degree, Best will help coach Sonny Dykes' staff wherever needed.

"Once my career was over, there was only one place I was going to come back to," Best said. "I've been through what these guys are going through. I can be a mentor to them, talk about school, talk about life. ... Coach Dykes welcomed me with open arms."

Best said there's one more athletic challenge he'd like to take on: a race against running back Khalfani Muhammad. Best had a 100-meter top time of 10.31 seconds in 2007. Muhammad's best is 10.33 from 2012.

"He just laughs," Best said of Muhammad, currently training with the Cal track team.